A Mother's Advice
by theywillneverknow
Summary: Set of short L/J drabbles about the times Lily took her mother's advice and the few times she completely ignored it.
1. The Woes of Being Pale

**Title: **A Mother's Advice  
**Author:** Firstflier  
**Characters:** Lily Evans, James Potter, mentions of other MWPP era.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Short summary:** Based on the song 'Sunscreen' by Baz Lurhmann. A set of short drabbles about the way Lily tried to live her life keeping her mother's words of wisdom in mind. And the few times she ignored them completely. Cute, fun, fluffballs. Angst kept to an absolute minimum (for a change).  
**Author's Note: **This is my first multi-chapter fic and the drabbles really are just that; drabbles. Some of them will only be a few lines long others may be pages. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. Feedback and concrit appreciated. Enjoy!

Dislcaimer:: I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with it.

The Woes of Being Pale

_If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it._

Lily Evans was a red head and, as such, had been blessed (or cursed depending on your point of view) with unblemished, ivory skin. It was flawless; the colour of pearls with the occasional smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks in the summer. Which is why, during the summer months, she burnt like toast. It was an ugly sight of red markings which peeled and left her, as a young girl, crying and wailing in the night. This lead to her mother, Poppy Evans, having epic battles with her youngest daughter about sunscreen.

"Young lady, you put this on right this second."

"No! I don't want to! It smells icky!" The 8 year old whined loudly and danced out of her mother's reach once more as she darted round the kitchen table. "None of my friends have to wear that stuff." She wrinkled her nose at the extra high factor bottle Poppy was wielding.

"Lily Marie Evans! You will put this sunscreen on or, so help me God, I will have to tell your father what a naughty girl you have been today and you know how upset that makes him." Poppy stopped chasing the determined redhead and placed both hands on her hips with a mournful, overly dramatic sigh at the end of her ultimatum.

The 8 year old skidded to a stop and turned wide, innocent jade eyes on her mother and Poppy had to resist the urge to do a jig of victory. Lily's father had always been something of a soft spot; she was a Daddy's girl through and through. If the argument had been put by her father about upsetting her mother the reaction would have been the same but probably less profound and much more grudging. At this age, Lily saw her mother as the authoritative parent, whereas her Dad worked fulltime and never really seemed to tell her off. She allowed her mother to get hold of her summer dress and sit her on a kitchen chair. Poppy slopped handfuls of the smelly sunscreen on the little girl with only minimal protests after that.

"Honestly, Lils. You've got beautiful skin and this will just protect it. Do you remember the man on the telly talking about it? You'll thank me for this one day when you're not a wrinkled old prune." She tapped the redhead's nose with a finger still covered in sunscreen and managed to steal a smile from her daughter.

_The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience._

_I will dispense this advice now. _

_~*~_


	2. Leave Him Breathless

_Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;_

Lily was a pretty young woman, beautiful in fact, even if her mother did say so herself.

So it was with mild worry and enormous portions of curiosity that Poppy watched from the doorway as her daughter pulled out another outfit from her wardrobe and heaved it aside with something akin to a roar of frustration. Poppy Evans decided to step in when her daughter threw herself on her bed and looked close to tears.

"Honey? What's wrong?"

Lily glanced at the door, where her mother was leaning against the door frame and managed a hormone driven wail.

"I have nothing to wear! James is going to be here soon and I have a massive spot and my hair is greasy and I feel disgusting." The redhead flopped back onto her pillows and covered her face with her hands. Poppy gave a wry smile, thankful that her daughter could not see her amusement for fear of the redhead wrath.

"Lily, look at me." The teenager removed her hands from her face and watched her mother as she sat on the bed. Poppy stroked her daughter's hair and smiled gently. "You are a beautiful young lady." Lily rolled away from her.

"Eurgh. You have to say that; you're my Mum."

Poppy laughed and moved towards the wardrobe.

"I don't have to say anything of the sort." She began rifling through the remaining hangers in the closet. "Why don't you wear that nice summer dress your Aunt bought you? The yellow one?" She turned to her daughter and threw the dress at her, much to Lily's annoyance. "You always look nice in that." Lily plucked the dress from her person and eyed it critically. Her mother was right; it did look good on her. "And, dear, we both know that you could go out in a plastic bag and James would still think you were the most gorgeous girl on the planet." Lily blushed a pretty shade of pink and clambered off the bed towards her mother.

"Thanks, Mum." Poppy's arms fell easily around the shoulders of her youngest daughter but Lily stiffened in the middle of the hug when the doorbell echoed around the house. "Sh-" There was a sharp look from Poppy. "oot. That will be James! Can you stall while I get dressed?" Lily didn't wait for an answer and began bodily pushing her mother from her bedroom.

"Sure, sure!" The door was slammed behind Poppy and she smiled as she walked down the stairs to open the door.

"Hello, James." The boy, well, man really, grinned brightly as he ran a hand through his messy mop of hair. Poppy's fingers itched to get the scissors and give him a decent hair cut but she remained happy with the fact that Lily wasn't dating some biker dude with a ponytail. Small victories with a teenager were the only real victories. "Lily will be down in a second. Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks, Mrs Evans." He stepped into the hallway and she approved of the fact that he was wearing smart dress pants and a jacket, even if the shirt underneath was slightly wrinkled and the tie hung loosely around his neck. Small victories. "How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you, James. And yourself?"

"I've been okay. Just trying to get my head around being out of school." He smiled, he had a toothy grin that was infectious and she couldn't help but smile back. She turned at the sound of Lily skipping down the stairs.

"James, hi!"

There was a pause and Poppy glanced at James to see his glasses slipping from the bridge of his nose as he admired her daughter in speechless wonder as she slipped into a pair of sandals. Lily did not know the power she wielded over this poor, love sick boy that much was obvious.

"You look beautiful, Tiger Lily." James sounded slightly breathless and Poppy winked at her daughter in an 'I told you so' way.

Poppy felt her heart swell when she watched her youngest fling herself into the arms of the man lurking in their hallway with a muttered 'thank you but my hair is a total mess'. He briefly kissed her on the cheek as one arm wrapped around her waist in a tight embrace, remaining there even after she pulled away. The redhead looked at her mother, a bright smile plastered on her face and her eyes bright with happiness. Ah, to be young.

"Have fun you two." The teenagers left, already giggling and giddy with happiness, as Poppy watched them through the open door. As they got to the top of the garden path, Lily took his hand and interlaced their fingers, her delicate laughter floating back down the road with the light, summer breeze.

_Oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.  
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…_

"I feel so old."

"What's that, dear?" Joseph had come in from the garden and snuck up behind her.

"Nothing. I just feel old." Poppy patted her greying hair with a wistful sigh and glanced down at her rather ample thighs. "I used to be as slim as Lily, now look at me. Gravity is taking its toll, that's for sure." She relaxed into his arms as he wrapped them around her from behind and rested his chin on her head.

"You look as stunning as when I first fell in love with you, my dear. And I wouldn't have you any other way."

She turned in his arms with a tinkling laugh and kissed him full on the mouth.

"You are such a sweet talker."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her roguishly.

"I know. And you love it."

"That I do, Mr Evans. That I do."

~*~


	3. Those Whale Like Feelings

_You're not as fat as you imagine. _

James Potter had a distinct soft spot for his wife so it was with slight worry that he wandered up the stairs towards their double bedroom to the sound of her sniffling. They were meant to be going to a fancy party at the Ministry and she was running 40 minutes late, which wasn't like Lily Potter at all. He had donned his smartest dress robes for the occasion and already felt incredibly uncomfortable in the high collared, deep maroon robes that his mother had picked out for him a couple of years ago.

"Lils?" He tentatively pushed the door open and flinched when her sobs only grew louder and more pitiful. She had been an emotional rollercoaster for a couple of weeks now and he didn't know what was going on with her; one minute she was fine, another she was practically a sex pest and then at another she would be inconsolable. Despite this, when he stepped into the room, the sight of his wife on the floor in near hysterics tugged painfully on his heart strings. Tears flooded down her face and her cheeks had turned a violent red with the exertion of her crying. He quickly crossed the room and sat on the floor, dragging her into his arms as he tried to sooth her. She had abandoned her lovely, silk dress and sat in her just as lovely underwear as she bawled her eyes out. He rubbed her back as she collapsed in his arms, all her strength seemingly abandoning her.

"Lily? What's wrong, sweetheart?" He pressed a kiss to her hair and shifted slightly so that she could properly snuggle into him. Her response was a despairing wail.

"I'm fat!"

James quickly had to find the will power not to laugh. If he laughed he was likely to get a slap or at least a well placed hex. She hiccupped in his arms but her tears were beginning to subside, her breathing had calmed and he marvelled at the fact that he could still have such an effect on the amazing woman he was cradling in his embrace. It seemed that all she needed was for him to be near her and she was soothed which was quite lucky because James had no qualms whatsoever about being as close to her as he possibly could at all times.

"You're not fat, love." She protested feebly but he held her tighter. "You are not fat. What's happened?"

"I can't fit in my dress. It's meant to just slip on and it got stuck half way. I feel like a whale."

"Lily." He moved her in his lap to look her in those amazing, red-rimmed eyes and spoke softly, urging her to believe the sincerity in his words. "You're not fat. Let's just get a different dress okay? Go and pick something else. It's probably been marked the wrong size by the shop, that's all."

"But we're going to be really late now and I have to re-do my makeup and I haven't got the right shoes and..."

"And it doesn't matter. Honestly, we'll be late. So what? They'll all just think we've been doing newlywed things."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive manner and she managed a watery smile that lead to her leaning in to kiss him slowly. Her kiss was made all the more intoxicating when she pushed her scantily clad body closer to his and he could feel her soft curves moulding to his body. He was quite glad he was sitting down because, after a kiss like that, he thought his knees might have given out had he been standing.

"I love you, James."

"I love you more." He swiped his thumbs against her cheeks and removed the tear stains from her face as he smiled softly at his wife. She rose gracefully from his lap, checking her hair once in the mirror before moving towards the wardrobe. James stood after her and playfully smacked her bottom before she got out of arms reach which resulted in a delightfully girly squeal that he knew she would deny making later. She was asking for it really; that woman had one hell of a sexy strut. He watched her appreciatively for as long as he could but when the wardrobe got in the way of his heated vision he glanced down at the dress on the floor. He bent to retrieve it and ran the material through his hands. It was a shame that it didn't fit because it really was a stunning dress; floor length, silk and the deepest green colour that James didn't think a name had been invented that would accurately describe it. As he put it back on its hanger, James couldn't help but notice a strange line down the side of the dress.

It was a zip.

Again, he resisted the urge to laugh and shook his head in silent mirth.

"Er..Lil?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you try undoing the zip?"

"The wha...?" Lily peered around the side of the wardrobe and he gestured at his new found discovery at the side of the dress. "Oh bugger."

Merlin, James Potter loved his wife.

~*~


	4. What Will Be, Will Be

_Don't worry about the future; _

Lily Evans had never before seen James Potter in such a state.

On Monday she had found him and Sirius scouring the library for any books they thought would help with their exams. This plan was flawed from the start when they had no idea how the books were stacked or what rows to look in. 7 years of avoiding the place like it had the plague virus (except when planting dung bombs) will do that to a person.

On Tuesday afternoon she had watched, amusedly, whilst James and Sirius tried to beg Remus for his notes so that they could study from them. They were not having much luck.

"You guys are idiots. I told you to start studying earlier and besides I need them to study from myself. Go and find some books or something." With that he had stalked off to the boys' dormitory to get some peace and quiet.

It was a Thursday evening when Lily stumbled across her boyfriend in the Heads' common room in a state she could only describe as 'freaking out'. It was a peculiar sight and one that had her quite perplexed. He was sat, cross legged on the floor with his head in his hands, surrounded by textbooks of varying subjects and even a few spilt ink wells. He appeared to be muttering to himself and Lily watched, partly in amusement and partly in concern. It was when he sighed and tilted his head back with his eyes closed that she decided to step in.

"James?" His eyes snapped open and he turned to look at her. She went to him instantly when she got a good look at him; dark circles hung below his eyes and there was an entirely too forlorn look on his face. "What's wrong?" His tired arms reached out to her and she sunk onto the sofa so that he could rest his head on her lap as his arms circled her. She stroked his hair, her fingers running through it like silk, her nails against his scalp lightly as she waited for him to get comfortable. He mumbled something against her lap and she breathed a laugh.

"What? I can't hear you." James raised his head somewhat meekly and rose his voice ever so slightly.

"Nothing is going in." His head flopped back into her lap and his arms tightened possessively around her.

"I take it you mean your N.E.W.T revision?" He nodded wordlessly. "You'll do well anyway; you always do. Don't worry about it."

His head lifted sharply from its cradle and he was in danger of knocking their heads together until Lily moved swiftly out of the way. He spluttered incoherently for a few seconds until he could form an intelligent sentence.

"What do you mean 'don't worry'? That's alright for you to say; you've been revising since Christmas." She raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'I told you that you should have started earlier' but he pushed on regardless. "These are the exams that decide my future. Whether I'll get to train to be an Auror or not. I can't 'not worry'." He threw his hands about as he spoke, clearly impassioned and exasperated with the infuriatingly calm redhead. In fact, she seemed almost amused by his predicament. "I'm having a complete mental break down here and you're smiling?"

"I've just never seen you like this. It's new." Lily replied with a shrug as she slipped from the sofa with an elegance James would forever be jealous of, and settled next to him. This had the effect of immediately calming him down because she was pressed right up against him and he could smell her jasmine shampoo which made the situation instantly more manageable.

"I just...I've never really had to worry about anything before. Not school work anyway. OWLs were easy and nowhere near as important as these are. I'm...I'm freaking out." He buried his head in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. He pressed a kiss to her neck as she patted his leg consolingly.

"Okay, look. Your first exam is tomorrow yes?"

"Yes." He replied warily, withdrawing from the curtain of her hair to look her in the face as she delivered her pearls of wisdom.

"Right. So there is no point in worrying about it now." He began to argue and she cut him off as she held a hand in front of his face. "There is no point worrying because you have learnt everything you are going to learn. There is nothing that you can read tonight that will help you remember any more than you are going to already. The best course of action would be to have a hot shower and go to bed at a reasonable time so you are fresh for your exam." She looked him dead in the eyes and enunciated clearly. "Do not cram. It will not help."

"But I can't help it! I _am _worrying."

Lily smiled and kissed him briefly on the lips.

"You can worry all you want but it won't help. And it won't help you get to sleep." She stood up and stretched languidly, his eyes following her every move. "I'm going to bed. Some of us have exams in the morning that will decide our future." She winked at him with a teasing smile and held out her hand. "Come on. I'll tuck you in."

He scrambled to his feet, revision forgotten as he hauled her flush against his body by her proffered hand.

"I like the sound of that." There was a pause. "You know, you could always help me with that whole hot shower thing. I can never wash my back properly." She laughed, a delightful sound which made him smile for the first time in days.

"I rather think you are pushing your luck, Mr Potter."

"Ah, but fortune favours the bold, Miss Evans." He grinned wolfishly at her and stroked her hair tenderly.

"Yeah, unfortunately, fortune doesn't favour the bold _that_ much." She stood on her tip toes to kiss him good night and was unsurprised when he deepened her chaste kiss into a slow, toe-curling, more dangerous good night than she had planned. When he finally drew away, Lily flushing a pretty pink, he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Lily."

"For the advice or the kiss?"

"Would I be a cad if I said both?"

"Not at all. You are quite welcome, James." She slipped from his embrace and headed towards her room. "Now go to bed and don't worry about tomorrow. My mother always says 'what will be, will be'."

"Yes ma'am." He mock saluted her and headed for his own bed.

_or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. _

"What if someone has a nut allergy?"

"What?"

James looked up, distracted from the paper he had been reading in amiable silence and glanced amusedly at his fiancée. She looked at him pointedly and gestured animatedly.

"What if one of the wedding guests has a nut allergy? We didn't check that with anyone and the caterers won't know and now someone will go into anaphylactic shock and we'll have to call an ambulance because there are muggles there too and..." It was when she started gulping in air and almost hyperventilating that James interrupted.

"Lily don't worry; it will be fine."

She glared at him from across the room.

"I'm freaking out here and all you can say is 'don't worry'?"

He smirked at her and came to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I believe someone much smarter than I once told me some advice her mother gave her: 'what will be, will be'. Seriously, Lils. It will be fine. And besides, we're getting married tomorrow; not a lot you can do about it now."

"Okay. You're right. Thank you." She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "You know, the person that told you that advice must be a pretty clever lady."

He chuckled deeply, a laugh that rumbled in his chest and she could feel reverberate though her.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome."

_The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday._

"Did you change the security password this week?"

"No. Did you?"

"No."

James looked at his wife as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. She stared back at him and he ran a hand through his hair. Harry gurgled articulately from his seat on her lap.

"I'll do it tomorrow."

"Maybe we should just do it now." Lily suggested as Harry grabbed a hold of her finger and tried to put it in his mouth.

"There's no point. I'll have to floo to see Sirius and Peter and tell them the new one and the traffic through the Ministry is going to be a nightmare because it's a holiday. Halloween and all that."

"Right." Lily nodded and pried her finger away from her son, only to have him latch onto her necklace. She sighed and looked at her husband wearily. "I know we've already talked about this but do you really think this switch is necessary? Peter is.."

"A good friend of mine who would never betray us." James insisted firmly. "I wouldn't risk the lives of the two people most important to me. Not on something like this."

"I know, dear. I'm sorry I just....I worry, okay?" He wrapped an arm around her and she relaxed slightly on the sofa.

"I know. I do too, love."

They both searched for words of comfort but fell short. Silence engulfed the Potter household, broken only by the soft murmurs of a content, unaware Harry.


	5. That Adrenaline Rush

_Do one thing every day that scares you._

Lily was well known for her spirit; her love of life.

So it came as no surprise to her friends that she had to find something every day to thrill her. Whether it was trying something new from Honeydukes, pinching Marlene McKinnon's bum in potions and then trying to blame it on Sev, catching a spider when she was little or even trying to find the kitchens after curfew. Whatever it was, Lily had to get her thrill fix somehow. Throughout her second year, despite her fear of brooms and flying, she had climbed on a broom every day and, after the initial terror had passed, tried to teach herself different tricks. By the end of her fourth year she had all but perfected standing up on her wobbly school broom and her friends had begged her to join the quidditch team.

Sirius Black, however, was not privy to this information and was shocked to discover in his fifth year perfect Prefect Evans sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library and heading towards the same stack he was hiding behind with a book on Animagus stuffed down his jumper. He could feel sweat gathering at the edges of his hairline and watched in the dark as she headed straight for him. Her eyes flashed, the green still vivid in the darkness, and he pressed himself further into the book case, willing his body to melt into it. He watched, heart pounding furiously in his head as she tripped in slow motion and knocked one of the books of the shelf towards his feet. He winced when it started screaming and could already see the light from the librarian's candle rounding the corner to see what had caused the noise. Lily's gasp echoed in the silence and Sirius acted without thinking. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her under the cloak he was stood beneath as his other hand covered her mouth.

"Shh. It's Sirius." He whispered hurriedly to a struggling redhead as Pince marched closer. The librarian narrowed her eyes and picked up the still screaming book. It hushed at her touch and she frowned, filing it back on the shelf and stalking back in the direction she had come from, her sharp eyes watching for students out of bed.

The two Gryffindors waited until the light from her candle was no longer visible and then relaxed slightly. Sirius' hand was still clamped over her mouth and Lily could feel his heart beat pumping loudly in her ears. She brushed his hand away and pushed the cloak off her.

"What the hell was that?" She hissed at him, careful to keep her voice down. Her eyes widened dramatically and she, rather comically, looked like a fish out of water when she was left gaping at the space that Sirius should have been standing in with a cloak over him. His head materialised out of thin air and she physically jumped with the suddenness of his appearance. "You have an invisibility cloak?"

"Well spotted, Evans." Sirius drawled sarcastically as he smirked at her. He removed the rest of the cloak and bundled it in his fist. He stared at her for a moment to let the information sink in. "So, tell me, what is a good girl, such as yourself, doing sneaking around in the Restricted Section after curfew?"

Those glorious jade eyes that James was so often spouting rubbish about narrowed at him.

"I could ask you the same thing, Black."

"Please, I asked first," he waved his hand in an imperious gesture "and it's Sirius, babe."

"It's Lily, _babe_." She all but snarled at him and he couldn't help the breathy chuckle that bubbled from his throat. She glared at him again and sighed. "I just...I don't know. I wanted a book?"

The excuse sounded lame to her own ears and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Nice try. Want another go at that? Try and make it more convincing? I find specifics always help."

"Oh yeah. Well what are _you _doing here then?"

"Trying to nick a book about Animagus, the one by Percival Pisswhiskers actually. Edition 4." He managed to steal a smile from her.

"Alright, show off." He was surprised that the truth seemed to be the most feasible excuse and one that she clearly didn't believe. Luck was clearly on his side tonight. "I dunno...I do stupid things every day because I like the adrenalin rush." She surprised herself with her honesty and glanced away from the tall boy in front of her, suddenly embarrassed.

"You are so like James."

She froze in the darkness and her eyes flickered back to him.

"What?" She scoffed. "We are nothing alike."

"You're more alike than you realise, Lily." His voice was soft, contemplative even, as though he wasn't sure they should be having this discussion. Her look was one of disbelief and Sirius sighed. "Well, by your own admission, you both do things every day to get your fix of adrenaline; you know, something that scares you."

"Please, what does Potter do every day that scares him? Besides looking in the mirror, I mean, and seeing that mop of hair." She sniggered and Sirius shot her a dirty look.

"He asks you out every day, doesn't he?"

She laughed, actually laughed, and he had to shush her for fear of Pince returning with Filch.

"And he's what? Scared of me?" She chuckled again but her laugh died in her throat at the look he shot her.

"No, Lily. He's not afraid of you." His eyes misted over and Lily felt the strength of the boys' friendship brush at the edge of her consciousness, eluding her grasp. "He's afraid of rejection." His dark, almost black, eyes flickered back to her stunned gaze and he spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, amazed that she could not see it for herself.

"He's afraid you'll break his heart."


	6. She Loves You

_Sing _

"She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.  
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.  
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

It was not often that James Potter had a completely empty apartment. Normally Sirius or Remus would be pottering about the place so James would keep the noise level down for their sake. But this evening he was gloriously alone for a few hours before his girlfriend was going to come round. He was enjoying this alone time by indulging in a luxurious shower and singing at the top of his lungs to a muggle song Lily had been gushing about ever since she heard it on the radio. By some kind of insect, the bumblebees or ants or something, he hadn't really been paying attention.

"You think you've lost your love  
When, I saw her yesterday-yi-yay.  
It's you she's thinking of  
And she told me what to say-yi-yay."

He scrubbed at his back with the lime soap Sirius insisted on buying because it 'made the girls go crazy' and struggled to remember the words to the song. He turned into the shower spray and let the water wash over his face and down his neck. He gurgled before the lyrics came rushing back to him.

"She says she loves you  
and you know that can't be bad.  
Yes, she loves you  
and you know you should be glad.  
She loves you..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Jesus, Lily!"

James slipped and had to grab the shower head to remain standing when a very pretty, very amused red head poked her head around the shower curtain and sang along with him. She laughed brightly as he tried to calm his pounding heart. He picked up the soap that had fallen onto the bottom of the shower and scrubbed a hand over his face. He stared rather pointedly at his girlfriend when he noticed she was still smiling at him.

"Do you mind?" He gestured to his lack of clothing.

"Not at all, James." She replied wickedly as she blatantly eyed him up and down, appreciation apparent in her overtly sexual gaze. He felt a blush stain his cheeks and stuttered awkwardly, immediately catapulting back into his 14 year old self. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen him naked before but he felt so...on show. He was on the verge of pushing past his modesty and ask her to join him if she liked the view so much but she laughed at his obvious discomfort and closed her eyes. A part of him was relieved whilst the other was disappointed.

"Alright, calm down you prude."

She withdrew her head from the shower curtain and he turned the shower off. A hand passed him a towel through the opening and he took it, gratefully. He pushed the curtain back and stepped out awkwardly with the towel wrapped around his waist. He jammed his glasses back on his still wet face and Lily came into sharp focus in front of his eyes.

Her focus, however, appeared to be solely on his bare chest and he felt his male pride swell. It was only when her emerald eyes darkened into something much more dangerous and her pink tongue came out to wet her plump lips that he cleared his throat. Her eyes snapped to his and, as always, his breath was taken away by the colour he found there. He had never seen such a brilliant green as the colour of her irises.

"I never knew you had such a great singing voice, Lil." Casual conversation. Casual. That was what he needed. A very feline grin spread across her face and he gulped.

"I have many talents, James." She stretched languidly and his gaze dropped to her rather ample chest. Talents indeed. "Some are just better hidden than others." She smirked at him, a smile that he was sure the devil had taught her personally and she splayed her hands on his glistening chest as she leaned into him, uncaring as to whether her clothes got wet or not. His hands wormed their way into the back pockets of her jeans to draw her closer. "You however, my dear, have a truly awful singing voice."

"Hey!" He pinched her bum in mock outrage and she laughed gaily once more. "My mother always told me that I had an excellent singing voice."

She glanced up at him with a patronising air.

"Aw, hun." She patted his cheek. "Let's just say; you've killed the Beatles for me. But I love you anyway." She kissed him sound on the mouth.

"She loves me?" He grinned at her and blinked innocently.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She dismissed with a wave of her hand and she realised, as soon as the words left her mouth, that those were the next words to the song. She rolled her eyes at his cuteness. "Okay, so maybe I do. But you know you should be glad." She sang the final sentence and he replied between stolen kisses.

"I am glad. _So, so _glad."

There was not much talking after that.


	7. Treat Others How You Wish To Be Treated

_Don't be reckless with other people's hearts_

"Who would you rather? Sirius Black or Remus Lupin?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised, Alice, dear."

"I am a bit. I always pegged you for more of a Sirius fan girl, Mary."

"The bloody cheek! Fan girl, indeed."

There was a cough and both teenage girls fell silent for a moment.

"You know what you should do, Lily? To really wind up Potter?" Mary Macdonald piped up in the silence on the Gryffindor Common Room as the group of 6th year girls tried to study. It was a quiet Thursday evening and most people were in bed so Lily and her friends had decided to make the most of the quiet and catch up on their homework. Of course, Mary and Alice had grown bored after about 20 minutes of this arrangement and had taken to asking increasingly personal and embarrassing questions. Lily turned to her friend and pushed her Arithmancy book away, realising that she wasn't likely to get peace any time soon.

"And why, pray tell, would I want to wind up James Potter?" Mary shrugged and gave her red headed friend a pout. Lily granted her with a long suffering sigh and a roll of her eyes.

"What should I do, Mary?"

The very feline, very uncharacteristic grin that Mary shot her way should have been a warning that what Mary was about to say was utterly ridiculous.

"You should flirt with him."

"What?" Lily eyed her friend dubiously and their other mates suddenly gained interest in the conversation.

"Think about it; if you flirt with him, tease him a bit, it'll drive him absolutely mad."

Alice snorted from her spot beside Mary and nodded in agreement.

"It won't be that difficult; he walks around with a hard on for you practically 24/7."

The other girls shrieked with laughter, giggles escaping them all at the hilarity of Alice's words. Lily frowned and watched in silence.

"Yeah, that would be so funny!" Emmeline joined in, tears gathering in her eyes from laughing too hard. "Can you imagine? He'd have to try and hide it from McGonagall!" This brought on an entirely new bout of hysterics from the 16 year olds and only deepened Lily's frown as she crossed her arms, clearly not amused by their antics.

"Okay, that's enough!" The laughter died slightly at Lily's outburst and the other girls looked at her in surprise. "That isn't funny at all. I can't believe you guys would make jokes like that. That's really cruel to play about with his feelings and I would never do something like that."

They all looked suitably chastised and fidgeted in their seats. Alice's sullen voice was the first to break the thick silence that hung over the girls, smothering them like a blanket, as she avoided Lily's branding, jade eyes.

"Geez, Lils, when did you start caring about Potter's feelings?"

Lily's eyebrows shot up towards her hair line and she looked around at the curious faces staring blankly back at her.

"Just because I'm not his biggest fan," Emmeline snorted derisively but quickly turned it into a cough as Lily glared at her. "Just because I'm not his biggest fan doesn't mean I would intentionally hurt him. I'm not _that _vindictive. I just think that is ridiculously immature."

"Well, excuse us, your majesty. It was only a joke." Alice all but snarled as she began packing away her belongings in what could only be described as a definite huff. "I'm going to bed and then you won't have to suffer my immaturity any longer." She flounced up the stairs with a flip of her hair and Emmeline rushing after her shouting at her to 'stop being stupid'. Mary glanced once more at Lily guiltily as she clutched her book to her chest and muttered a rather embarrassed, but sincere, apology as she too disappeared to the girls' dormitories. Lily rested her head on the back of the sofa, closed her eyes and released a weary sigh.

"Are you okay, Lily?"

The sofa sunk beside her and she did not need to open her eyes to know who was sat next to her.

"Remus." She acknowledged him with a weary sigh. "How much did you hear?"

He paused and she opened her eyes to see him thoughtfully scratching the stubble that wormed across his chin and down his throat.

"Enough to know I should be asking Mary Macdonald to Hogsmeade soon." It was a transparent attempt to get her to smile but it worked and he managed to steal a laugh from her. "I heard what you said about James." She sucked in a breath and held it, nervous as to where this conversation was going. He nudged her with his elbow. "You're alright, Evans."

She nudged him back with her elbow and granted him a rare, easy smile.

"You're not so bad yourself, Lupin."

"Call me Moony; all my close friends do."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he grinned wolfishly.

"Oh, we're close friends now?"

His amber eyes turned to her and studied her face for a long moment. She felt oddly exposed and moved to draw away from him slightly but paused before her body had moved an inch. His eyes flashed and she could not tear her eyes away from his piercing gaze. He finally nodded, obviously pleased with whatever secret thing he had found.

"I have a feeling we will be." He ruffled her hair and laughed at her growl. He stood, stretched and headed for bed. "Goodnight, Lily."

"Goodnight...Moony."

_Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. _

It was an average November evening in the Heads Common Room. The cold weather clawed and scratched its way into the room from outside. The fire blazed, throwing shadows around the room like ethereal dancers against the walls. Lily was pleasantly comfortable with her feet up on the sofa, her eyelids drooping heavily, her head in James' lap and his hand in her hair. It was not an uncommon sight since the two had put aside their silly feud in the middle of their 6th year and had become quite close friends in the time following their truce. James' hand weaved its way through her hair again and Lily had to resist the urge to purr. She was so content, so blissfully relaxed. She smiled dreamily and forced her eyes open to look at him.

"I love this."

He was watching her, dark hazel eyes sparkling down at her. He hummed noncommittally, nonchalantly smiling at her, but she caught the flash of pain in his expression as it crossed his features fleetingly.

"What?"

"Nothing." James shook his head at her and resumed stroking her hair.

"No. It's something." She sat up, twisting so that she was sat next to him, watching him worriedly. "What is it? Tell me."

He was avoiding her gaze and she reached out to cup his jaw in her hand. His voice was shaky as he whispered.

"Don't do that."

"James?" His voice was hard, almost cold and Lily scooted closer, dragging her hand to the short hairs at the nape of his neck and toying with them gently.

"Stop it." She frowned and he wrenched away from her abruptly. "Just stop it! Stop tormenting me like this!"

She recoiled from him as though he'd physically hit her and she sat on the opposite side of the sofa chewing her lip. His face was instantly remorseful.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't mean it like that. I just...I can't keep doing this." His head fell into his hands and he looked like a shadow of his former self; broken.

"Doing what?" She was genuinely mystified and it only served to irritate him more. "I don't understand."

"You bloody wouldn't."

That stung. She looked away from him, hair falling around her face to act as a physical shield.

"Then explain it to me." Her voice was soft, quiet, patient and his frustration melted away at the little girl quality her voice had. He scooted closer to her and looked forlornly at her, desperate to explain.

"It's..." He sighed and looked her dead in the eyes. "I can't be friends with you."

She pushed past the instant, immediate hurt and tilted her head.

"Why not?"

"Because that will never be enough for me!" His outburst startled her and she found herself gaping at him. He was breathing heavily, his sharp eyes watching her with a keen sense of anticipation. She struggled to form a coherent sentence and he grew more agitated.

"I don't know what you want from me, James."

"You. Always you." His voice was low, gravelly and it sent a forbidden thrill through her as he pinned her once again with those dark eyes.

"I thought you just wanted to be friends." She sounded genuinely shocked. "I've been so confu-"

"I get it." His tone was clipped. "Don't worry. It was stupid to even bring it up." He stood up from the sofa and ran a hand through his hair.

"Wait, James. That's not what I-"

"Don't you dare say that's not what you meant." He chuckled mirthlessly and she laid a hand on his arm as she implored him to listen.

"Will you just wait? I'm trying to explain."

"What?" He snapped at her suddenly. "What could you possibly say to-mmph."

He was abruptly cut off as she launched at him and fused their mouths together. He was momentarily stunned into stillness and blinked dumbly as she continued to tease his lips apart. When he felt her wet tongue slide against the seal of his mouth, an 'oh' squeaked from his mouth before he growled lowly and hauled her closer, lips sliding desperately over hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she urged her body closer and she could feel her toes curling with pleasure. It was several loud, wet minutes later that they drew apart, foreheads still touching, eyes still closed.

"Well. That certainly explained some things." James quipped as Lily stepped from the circle of his arms. She patted delicately at her mussed hair.

"Yes. I rather thought it might."


	8. Don't Believe Everything You Hear

AN: I apologise for the brief interlude; my laptop has died and taken all my fanfiction notes with it.

_Floss_

Lily was something of a worrier. She knew it and recognised it as one of her many character flaws. This trait, however, had managed to spread like a disease throughout the wizarding world following in the wake of the news about the rising of the Dark Lord. When she became a mother, she chose to classify this worrying as 'mother's intuition' for, more often than not, she was right to worry about her son and his new found interest in sticking everything he could get his grubby mits on in his mouth. She had discovered him attempting to put a battery in his mouth once and had nearly suffered a heart attack. Her wild, war cry at the sight had startled the poor boy so much that he had dropped the battery instantly and taken to wailing instead.

It was when, during a rare moment of peace, there was an almighty crash emanating from the bathroom that Lily freaked out and sprung into action.

Had Harry taken another dive head first into the toilet?

Had he managed to climb onto the edge of the bath and fall in?

Her head pounded as she raced out of her bedroom and towards where the commotion was coming from. She wrenched the door open, preparing herself for the worst.

What she did not expect to find was her husband sitting in the empty bath with both legs draped over the edge, his glasses askew, the shower curtain ripped from where it hung with floss in his hair.

"James?" Lily's heart rate slowed slightly and she leaned her hip against the door frame.

"Hello, love."

James made no move to extract himself from the bath and instead shook his hands which were also covered in minty dental floss. A frown formed on his face and he gritted his teeth as more of the white string fell from its container.

"Er...can I ask what you are doing?" Lily asked, laughter threatening to erupt at the pitifully cute sight he presented to her.

"Trying to floss." Was his less than illuminating reply.

"I can see that, dear. Do you need some help?"

"No!" He looked at her with wide eyes and held up a hand to emphasise his point. "I won't let it beat me."

"Let what beat you?" Lily asked, completely baffled by her deliciously strange husband.

"The floss, of course." He replied as though he was talking to an incredibly slow person. He resumed shaking his hands and, when this didn't work, attempted to bite through the dental floss with his teeth.

"I think, by acknowledging the floss as an adversary, it has already beaten you. Why, in Merlin's name, did you think you needed so much?" She asked, terribly amused, as she eyed the lengths and lengths of it that were trailing over the bath, onto the floor and there was some wrapped around James' middle.

"Well, how else is it meant to go all the way through?"

"What are you talking about? Through what?" Lily was truly mystified.

"Through me." James eyed her as though she were asking ridiculous questions.

"What?" Lily frowned. "What do you think floss is for?"

"For cleaning things out with a minty freshness. Like, those muggle shorts that have it attached."

"What?" Lily repeated, staring at her husband worriedly.

"Yeah, those toggle things. Sirius said that it was penis floss."

Lily covered her mouth as she felt giggles slip from her throat. She bit her lip and tried not to grin but it was such an absurd statement that she couldn't help herself. She leant against the door frame and began to laugh in earnest, her knees shaking with the intensity of her laughter. Tears sprung to her eyes and she slid to the floor, her stomach hurting from laughing so hard.

Realisation dawned on James and his face dropped.

"That's not what it's for at all, is it?"

Lily barely had the strength to shake her head.

"Padfoot is such a twat sometimes."


	9. Just Try Your Best, That's All I Can Ask

_Don't waste your time on jealousy._

"I cannot believe it!" James said, clutching at his heart dramatically. "Did I, James Clarence Potter, actually _beat _Lily Marie Evans at Charms? The world must be coming to an end."

At 15 years old, James was perhaps at his most irritating. If he had not been so busy rubbing his essay in Lily's face he might have noticed some of the more obvious warning signs that she was going to snap.

"Look at it. It's beautiful. 97%. And what did you get, dearest?" James asked in a sing song voice as he batted his eyelashes at the redhead.

"I think it was 95%, wasn't it, Prongs?" Sirius Black piped up from where he was lounging idly on the sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Padfoot." James grinned at his partner in crime as he proceeded to rock on the balls of his feet, still cradling his essay to his chest.

Lily's face had gradually turned a rather unattractive purple colour throughout the performance and her friends were eyeing her warily, slowly retreating from the inevitable explosion. Lily's hands clenched tightly around her quill, her knuckles turning white, and she felt the writing utensil snap in her grip. She willed herself to calm down.

"You know, Evans, if you want I could always give you a few pointers on the next one."

There was a primal scream, words that didn't sound like English bubbling past her lips, as she lunged at the infuriating prat over the back of the couch. There was an instant, brief though it was, where they locked gazes, his amused and smug, hers angry and murderous. His eyes widened in fear momentarily until Mary Macdonald managed to grab Lily's right arm, Alice Prewett quickly coming to her assistance at the other side, and the two of them managed to haul Lily bodily up the girls' staircase as she yelled profanities that made Peter blush.

"I was only trying to help." James said with fake innocence before he and Sirius burst out laughing.

_Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind._

"Lily! Oi, Evans!" James shouted as he stumbled from the fireplace, brushing soot and ashes from his robes as he all but danced on the spot with excitement. He heard her light footsteps on the stairs as she flew down to greet him. He had a letter clutched tightly in his hand and the biggest grin he think he had ever sported spread goofily across his face. Lily rushed into the room, took in the sight of him and raised her eyebrows.

"Well?" She asked expectantly, taking a step closer.

"I got 92." He said with pride. She squealed girlishly and ran at him. She leapt up into his arms and, in a surprising show of strength, he picked her up with one arm and spun her around as he laughed. She was laughing too when he put her back down on the ground, the smile on her face warming his soul.

"I passed too." He gave a whoop of joy before wrapping his arms around her and lowering her in a dip that had her laughing again. He pressed a kiss to her lips, still grinning like a lunatic. He slowly brought her to stand the right way up, keeping his hands on her waist, and she curled her arms around his neck. "I can't believe we're going to be Aurors together." She giggled again. "God, you're an Auror now."

"So are you. Merlin, how _old _does that make us seem?"

She laughed merrily again and he smiled down at her, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. She smiled, a real smile that wrinkled her nose, as she ran her finger along the bone of his nose to push his glasses back into the right position.

"Thanks, love." His eyes twinkled warmly down at her and he could not remember the last time he felt so content.

"Not a problem. 92, you clever clogs." She said as she laid a hand on his chest. She frowned as she did some quick calculations in her head. "Isn't that better than all your practice test scores?"

"Yeah." He nodded proudly and his hold tightened on her slightly. "Moody said he's only seen a handful of tests that were better than that." James grinned and put the blush that crept up Lily's neck down to the fact that she might not have done as well. "What about you? How did you do?"

"I passed and that's enough for me." Lily said with a genuine smile.

_'That's not what I asked.'_ James thought but, remembering past experiences, he knew better than to push and let it lie. After all, he didn't want a repeat performance of their fifth year argument over who was better academically. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Fair enough." He said and left it at that.

It was a week and a half later that he stumbled upon her results letter, entirely by accident, as he rifled through some paper work looking for spare parchment. Curiosity took over before he could stop himself and his eyes ran hungrily over the red ink.

_Miss Evans,_

_It is with great pleasure that I write to offer my congratulations on passing your final written examination. _

_109%_

_This, along with your exceptional performance in the physical exam, has earned you a position as a fully qualified Auror._

_Congratulations._

_Alastor Moody and Rufus Scrimgeour._

James stared in stunned silence at the parchment in his hands. 109%?! How the hell had she managed that? His brain was suddenly fuzzy and he almost missed the scrawl at the bottom of the page. He squinted and tried to decipher the messy hand writing of Moody.

_PS. Congratulations, Evans. Top of your year and the second best result the Auror headquarters has ever seen, beaten only by myself. Give 'em hell, kid._

James was shocked. Completely and utterly gobsmacked. Why hadn't she said anything?!

_'Because she doesn't need to brag about it to be proud of herself.' _A voice that sounded oddly like Remus Lupin piped up in the vaults of his rather confused mind.

James shook his head with a smile. She was incredible.

And he was going to marry that Evans girl, one day. Of that, he was 109% certain.

_The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself._

~*~


	10. Could Never Follow My Own Advice

_Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; _

"I'm so angry! I could just ARGH!"

James was jolted awake from his nap by a very vocal entrance from Lily Evans. He watched with bleary eyes as she slammed the portrait shut, harder than necessary in his humble opinion but he wisely kept this to himself, threw her bag across the room with a growl and began to pace back and forth. Her arms were shaking and her hair was coming loose from the normally tight bun she pulled it into. James sat up slowly from his horizontal position on the couch, careful not to move too fast for fear that Lily's rage be turned on him.

"Lily?"

She whirled to face him and he was slightly alarmed to see tears shining brightly in her eyes.

"James. I-I didn't know you were here."

The Head Girl sucked in a deep, shaky breath and averted her gaze from his.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently, frowning with concern as her whole body seemed to suddenly sag with exhaustion. He rose quickly from the couch as she shook her head to indicate non-verbally that no, she was not okay. He had barely moved an inch when she suddenly flung herself into his open, waiting arms without warning. "Hey, hey." He stroked her hair tenderly as she savoured the feeling of his arms around her. "What's happened?"

"You'll think it's stupid." She conceded after a moment of silence. Her response was muffled against his shoulder as she buried her face in his shirt. He was sure she could feel the pounding of his heart and cursed his body for reacting to their closeness when she was obviously distressed about something.

"I'll decide if I think it's stupid or not. Come on, spill." James said as he pinched her lightly in the middle of her back. She sighed and ended up mumbling against his chest.

"It was just Malfoy and some of his cronies. They caught up to me in the hallway and they just wound me up." She felt him stiffen and the hold on her tightened. "It's silly. I should be used to it by now, right?" She forced a weak laugh and tried to disentangle herself from his embrace. He allowed her to move away slightly but still had his arms wrapped around her. The look he was giving her was unnerving.

"You must definitely should not be used to it." James said sternly as he looked at her with worry.

"No. It's ... it was just the usual, you know. Un-inventive stuff; go home mudblood and things...it's fine. And true I suppose so-"

"Don't!" He barked somewhat sharply at her. "Don't finish that sentence." He cupped her face in his hands, and spoke very slowly so that she would understand he was being deadly serious. "It's not true. You deserve to be here just as much as anyone else." Her snort angered him irrationally. "You do! You're the smartest witch in our year and you're beautiful and special and you should never let anyone make you think you know what makes you even better than them? That you would never sink to their level. You are such a good, good person Lily Evans and don't you ever forget that. Ignore all their gripes and insults and jealousy and just remember all the amazing things people have ever said to you." _All the things I want to say to you._

She smiled at him, it was a tired smile, but a smile nonetheless. She returned to his embrace.

"Thank you, James. You're a good friend."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, when Lily asked why he had detention from McGonagall, he failed to mention that it was because he had punched Malfoy in the face and ended up fighting with him in a deserted corridor. And, later that evening, after scrubbing Transfiguration desks for 2 hours, McGonagall released him with a frustrated sigh.

"As Head Boy, Potter, you should know better than to get in petty fights with other students."

He rubbed his sore knuckles and quirked a half smile.

"Eh. It was totally worth it."

_If you succeed in doing this, tell me how._

~*~


	11. Keeping The Romance Alive

_Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements._

It was deathly silent as James Potter glared into the fireplace, his brow furrowed and arms crossed. He was, for all intents and purposes, the very definition of sulking. And it was all his disgustingly beautiful girlfriend's fault.

She had forgotten their anniversary.

_Forgotten _it_._

Like he wasn't important - like _they_ were not important.

It had been Remus who had, very reasonably, pointed out that not many people celebrated their 2 and a half month anniversary.

This fact was irrelevant to James Potter; he for one wanted to celebrate every day that he and Lily were together and, to this end, he had bought her a card, flowers, chocolates and had set up a very special date for the two of them. She, however, had frowned with confusion at his gesture of love and had promptly left to tutor some snot-nosed fourth year, muttering about romantic saps.

So James had decided to wait up for her.

Because this misunderstanding between the two of them would just not do.

Would she ignore all important events? Their first Christmas? Their first wedding anniversary? The birthdays of their 9 children when they were born?

No, they needed to discuss her cold-hearted attitude and find out why she did not regard these events with the same sentimentality as he clearly did.

So, by the time Lily tumbled through the portrait hole at exactly 16 minutes past 9, James' pout had grown to epic proportions. She glanced at him with barely concealed amusement.

"You alright, James?" She asked as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and dropped her bag to the floor. He shook his head and she rolled her eyes with a smile before going to sit down next to him. "What's up?"

"Why don't you care about our two and a half month anniversary?"

James Potter; Mr Blunt of Bluntsville.

"What?" She asked with a disbelieving laugh.

He huffed a sigh.

"Well, obviously, I am the only romantic in this relationship. It was two and a half months ago today that we went to Hogsmeade on our first date." He said as though that explained everything.

"You think I'm not romantic?" She asked with pursed lips.

"Well...no, actually."

"Right. Fine." Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and marched towards her bedroom. The door was slammed shut with a rather loud bang.

"Shit." James mumbled as he sunk further into the sofa. He had not meant to make Lily angry. Really, he had hoped she might realise she was being incredibly insensitive and offer to kiss it all better.

He was, after all, an optimist.

He ran a hand through his hair and was about to head to Lily's room and beg for forgiveness, when her door opened and she was storming back out with what looked like a shoe box in her hand. She jumped back onto the sofa next to him and tucked her legs underneath her as she watched him carefully, a determined glint in her jade eyes.

"Right. I was going to save this for, I don't know, our 6 month anniversary or something," the sarcasm laced in her voice was part irritated part amused, "but since you are such a ruddy sulker and I can't take the pout any longer, ta-da!"

She placed the box in his lap gently, reverently even, and pulled at the sleeves of her jumper as she watched him.

He eyed her strangely but curiosity got the better of him and his attention turned to the ordinary looking box sitting on his thighs. He ran his thumbs over the top of the box and lifted the lid slowly. He frowned at the sight that greeted him.

"Er..why have you given me a box of parchment?"

"Read them." Lily urged, her eyes bright.

He picked up one piece and unfolded it. He was met with the surprising sight of his own hand writing.

_'Evans,_

_I am writing to apologise for the incident at the lake. It was very immature of me to do that to __Sniv __Snape. __Even if he is a git who deserves it._

_I just wanted to say sorry and see if you wanted to meet for an ice cream over the summer, maybe?_

_Potter_

_James'_

"What is this?" James asked, confusion and awe evident in his voice.

"It's all your letters. Every single one you ever sent me." His stunned eyes found hers in the glow of the fire. She smiled at him. "Get one of the envelopes from the bottom." She instructed softly, a pink hue creeping across her cheeks. The tips of his fingers brushed against sealed letters at the bottom of the box and he pulled them out. He sifted through them and each had the same address penned in elegant cursive.

_James Potter,_

_Potter Manor,_

_Surrey,_

_GU2 7JP_

"What are these?" He asked as he reached for more of the sealed letters. Each one with the same address.

"My replies. The ones I never sent." The Head Girl replied honestly and James could definitely make out a delicate pink colour in her cheeks now as she tried to avoid his dark eyes. She had kept every single letter he had ever sent her. He had thought, in those dark moments of teenage angst, that she had thrown them away or burnt them. She had replied to a few letters in the past, normally begging him to leave her alone or, more recently, polite, civil notes that were only a few lines long as a general rule. The envelopes he held in his hands were stuffed with reams and reams of parchment. He itched to read them but would not subject her to any more embarrassment that was warranted.

The box of letters was chucked onto the coffee table as James lunged at his blushing girlfriend. She was dragged into his arms before she could even blink, one of his hands around her waist as the other curled into her hair as he kissed her forehead. She smiled gently and wormed her way further into his embrace when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Happy 2 and a half month anniversary, James."

Not romantic indeed. How little he knew.

~*~


	12. The Early Bird Catches The Worm

_Stretch_

Lily Evans did not enjoy early mornings.

She did not like the cold rush of air that hit her legs when she swung them out of bed and away from the comforting warmth of the duvet. She did not like the way her hair stuck to the side of her face. She did not like the brush that ran through her hair hatefully pulling at every strand it could find. She did not like the shower that blasted hot and cold in equally irritating measures so that she was scalded and then frozen.

And, yet, she could be found getting out of bed religiously every morning at 6 am.

The reason was simple.

James Potter awoke at 6.17 precisely and then proceeded to stretch out his kinks from the night before.

James Potter also never remembered to close his bedroom door so, from the Head's Common room, peeking over the back of the sofa, Lily Evans could observe this stretching ritual to her heart's content.

The first time she had been privy to such an act she had stumbled upon it by accidentally. There had been a stomach bug going around and she had become an avid sufferer. Up since 4 am she had been trekking to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach repeatedly and then decided to sleep in the common room on the sofa because it was easier to get to the bathroom that way. James had woken once in the night and, embarrassingly, caught her just as she made a mad dash for the sanctuary of the toilet bowl. Ever the gentleman, he had held her hair and rubbed her back, even as she heard him mutter 'ew' under his breath. He had tucked her in on the sofa, her body shivering and said he would check on her in the morning. She had nodded somewhat pathetically and tried to sleep for at least a couple of hours. This was impossible and she found herself tossing and turning as her stomach churned uncomfortably.

It started doing all sorts of weird back flips when James woke up with a groan.

Her head poked over the top of the sofa, to wish him good morning and, suddenly, her tongue swelled in her mouth and she couldn't swallow properly.

He was sat up in bed, the duvet wrapped loosely around his waist, his chest gloriously bare and open to her very interested perusal. He ran a hand through his hair and over his neck, rubbing in a circular motion at the base of his neck and his head lolled on his shoulders. His arms reached above his head, his hands locked together as he arched his back in a way that made her head spin. His neck, back, arms and all the delicious spaces in between tensed and flexed. She could feel her jaw slacken as all the air left her lungs. Her eyes followed the lines of his arms to his shoulders, oh _God, _his shoulders. They were toned, muscular even but not bulging and she longed to run her hands over them. To feel the muscles twitch and flex under her fingers. She could imagine the skin, warm and smooth, beneath her fingertips, grazing the hair at the nape of his neck and skimming down his biceps, which her small hands would not be able to wrap around, dipping into the delicate crease of his elbow, or maybe skipping across his collarbone, tenderly caressing in a way that felt so good it should be illegal. Maybe one of her hands would run down his back, feeling the bones of his spine and falling to the dimples just above his hips, feeling so feminine in the shadow of this _man. _This raw, powerful man.

He yawned with a moan, clicked his elbows once and rolled out of bed and the spell holding Lily frozen to the spot was broken.

Lily dropped quickly onto her back on the sofa, her breathing shallow and heat rising in her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her eyes wide with something akin to shock. It was several minutes later, the images on constant replay in her mind, that James stood over her, a robe wrapped around him as he gazed concernedly at her.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

She barely managed to whimper, worried that she might embarrass herself with incoherency if she tried to speak as this Adonis stood in the flesh before her. He obviously took this as a bad sign and laid the back of his hand on her forehead. This did not help her discomfort.

"You're burning up. Come on, I'll take you down to the Hospital Wing."

Lily didn't think Madame Pomfrey could really help her but allowed him to fuss over her as he tugged at the duvet she was lying on. At least not with the burning up which had absolutely nothing to do with her tummy bug and entirely to do with the bloke wrapping her up in her duvet and all but carrying her to the school nurse. Having those arms locked tightly around her did not calm her raging temperature or her raging hormones either for that matter.

It was a couple of weeks later that Lily stumbled across James stretching for Quidditch practice and, after nearly passing out, vowed to attend every game from then on.

Even if she did have trouble breathing whenever the team was warming up.

~*~


	13. You're Only As Young As You Feel

_Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; _

"Miss Evans, is there something I can help you with?"

Lily lingered at the corner of her desk, fidgeting with the strap of her bag, as the last few members of the class filed out to head to lunch. Minerva watched her curiously, as the girl took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes, actually, Professor I was wondering if maybe I could talk to you about my choices for next year?"

Minerva tried to hide her surprise. It was only February of her second year and the young redhead was already thinking about her third year options? Well, the Transfiguration teacher supposed it was better to be prepared than to just choose at the last minute. She nodded and waved her wand to summon a chair at her desk.

"Of course, Miss Evans. Take a seat."

The redhead flashed a brief smile and took the offered seat.

"Thank you, Professor." She answered politely. "I just don't know how I'm meant to choose between all my subjects. Or even how many I am allowed to take as a maximum limit."

"Have you thought about what you want to do after school? That often helps with these subject decisions." Minerva offered helpfully and was perplexed as Lily's face fell.

"No. I haven't a clue what I want to do past Hogwarts."

"Well that's okay."

"Really?" Lily seemed genuinely shocked. "It's just...everyone I talk to seems to have a plan. Emmeline wants to become a Healer, Marlene is planning to work as an Unspeakable, Potter and Black are going to apply for the Auror training programme, Mary is pretty much guaranteed a job with her father at the Ministry and I just-"

"Miss Evans." Minerva held up a hand to stop the girl in her tirade. The redhead fell silent with an embarrassed blush crawling across her cheeks. "I did not know what I was going to do after Hogwarts at your age."

Lily's expression brightened somewhat.

"Really?"

"Really." Minerva offered a rare smile at the girl in front of her.

And then, with innocence only a 12 year old could possess, Lily turned those brilliantly green eyes on her Head of House.

"Do you know now?"

"I'm sorry?" Minerva asked, confused as to what the girl was asking.

"Do you know now what you want to do when you're older?"

The question was so surprising that Minerva genuinely laughed and blinked rapidly at the girl in front of her before finding her voice.

"Do you know something, Miss Evans? I still haven't a clue."

_Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't._

_~*~_


	14. Grow Up Big And Strong

_Get plenty of calcium_

"Good Lord! Tell her to put them away, Prongs!"

"What? What's happened?" James ran from the kitchen to the living room, startled by Sirius' horrified cry. The sight that met his eyes made his heart melt a little, as it always did.

"Well? Do something!" Sirius' voice had developed a distinctly shrill quality to it and James looked at him confused as Lily chuckled from her seat on the sofa.

"Do something about what?"

"About all this inappropriateness!" Sirius all but squealed as he waved vaguely towards Lily with one hand, the other clamped tightly over his eyes.

"Oh, grow up, Sirius." Lily said, partly irritated, partly amused.

"Look, Lil, as much as I love you, it's like a sister, yeah? I don't want to be ogling your...assets, thank you very much." Sirius said stiffly, still averting his gaze, despite his hand dropping from his eyes.

"I'm just breast feeding, for goodness sake!"

James moved to sit next to his wife on the sofa, a hand stroking her hair as he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Padfoot; I think it's beautiful." James beamed at his family and could feel his heart swelling with joy, despite Sirius' grumbles.

"'Beautiful' Merlin's hairy arse. It's indecent bloody exposure, is what it is."


	15. Think Before You Speak

_Be kind to your knees_

"Potter! What exactly do you think you are doing?!"

"I believe I am climbing a tree, Lily dear."

James Potter grinned down at the irritated redhead and stood up on the branch he had previously been sitting on.

"Well, get down. It's against school rules."

James laughed merrily.

"Since when has that stopped me before?" He swung his arms and smiled brightly at her horrified face.

"Seriously, get down before you hurt yourself." She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes up at him.

"Aw, Evans. I didn't know you cared so much." He winked and was rewarded with an angry roll of the eyes.

"I don't, you bloody berk. But I don't want to have to escort your sorry arse to the Hospital Wing either."

"I knew you loved me really." James said dreamily as he pretended to swoon forward, grabbing the tree trunk at the last minute. The yelp that she released did not go unnoticed.

"Potter! Just get down." He watched with extreme interest as she bit her lip hard. Probably to keep in the 'please' that was itching to escape her lips.

"Nah. I rather like it up here actually. And, besides, I have the natural grace of a ... of a ... of a gazelle, kind of." This made him laugh rather hard and Lily looked torn between confusion and fear for his sanity. "You're just jealous of my natural agility."

Her face slumped into disbelief and one of her eyebrows raised.

"I'm really, _really_ not." He waved off her reply and she let out a tiny gasp. "_Don't _do that."

"What? This?" He waved his arms around wildly and, almost lost his balance, but managed to recover before he fell.

"Yes! That. Stop it."

James grinned and began to hop, gleefully, from one foot to the other.

"Potter, stop it. Really, I think you shoul-"

But what Lily Evans thought James should do neither ever found out for, suddenly, his gazelle like grace left him and his feet slipped from the branch of the tree and he was hurtling towards the ground with Lily's voice ringing in his ears. After scrambling for her wand and a bit of quick thinking, she managed to cast a levitating spell that stopped him from hitting the earth with a great splat. He was lowered to the ground gently, still slightly winded from where a branch hit him in the stomach. He gratefully sunk into the grass on his back as Lily stood over him.

"See? You could have broken your legs." Her 'I-told-you-so' was written all over her face. "You okay?"

"I'm great, Evans. Fantastic even." Lily frowned at him and, somehow, his brain decided to disengage and he was talking before he could stop himself. "I can see right up your skirt from here."

She flushed an interesting shade of red, huffed indignantly and marched back towards the castle.

"Hey! I wasn't complaining!" James called after her which caused her to stop and throw 'prat' along with a hex over her shoulder with irritation. And then she was speeding back towards the school. "Oh, come on, Evans. I was only joking!" James pushed himself to his feet to chase after her and promptly fell flat on his face as Lily's jelly legs jinx took effect.

_You'll miss them when they're gone._

_~*~_


	16. The Future Is Uncertain

_Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't,_

"Do you think you'll ever make it this far, Moony?"

"I don't know, Padfoot."

Remus watched James spin his new bride merrily on the dance floor and hated the pang of jealousy that pounded through his chest. That kind of happiness, that get out of bed in the morning, do back flips just for fun, my heart feels so full happiness had always been out of his reach. Just ever so slightly eluding his grasp. He turned back to Sirius and was angered by the quiet voice that could not possibly belong to him.

"What about you?"

Sirius blinked with surprise at the question and then laughed brightly.

"Nah." He scratched his chin and threw a roguish wink in the direction of the blushing bridesmaids. "Marriage isn't really for me."

"Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, 'eh?" Remus asked dryly with a raised eyebrow as he noticed the direction of Sirius' eager gaze.

"Don't be daft, Moony." He stood swiftly from his chair and ruffled the werewolf's hair; much to the latter's annoyance. "Always the bridesmaids. Plural." With another, decidedly rakish, chuckle Sirius left in pursuit of taffeta and totty. Remus shook his head and his eyes traitorously returned to the sickeningly wonderful scene being played out by the Potters. What he would do for that kind of happiness.

Years later, eloping with Tonks in a ceremony devoid of character, devoid of friends, Remus pictured the Potter wedding and realised he still hadn't had that kind of happiness.

_Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, _

As James lie writhing on the floor, curling in the foetal position as his mates laughed like the bastards they were, only one thought flashed through his mind.

How was Lily going to bear his children if she insisted on damaging vital goods in an attempt to prevent him from pro-creating?

_Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much. _

"What did I do to deserve you?" James asked as he stroked his wife's hair lazily, half dozing on the sofa as late night television flickered idly in the background. Lily was silent, her breathing slow and heavy indicating she was already fast asleep on his chest. James glanced down at her lovingly, the strength of his love for the red-headed ex-Head Girl no longer a surprising clutch on his heart but instead a comforting warmth that spread all the way to his fingertips. His glasses slid down the bridge of his nose and a slow smile curved his lips. "I'll tell you my theory then; I think Merlin is looking down and he decided that, because I am just so awesome, I needed a reward. Et voila." His voice was soft, careful not to wake her and he wondered whether loving Lily Evans (now Potter) had addled his brains because he was definitely turning a little bit crazier every day. He shifted experimentally and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. He moved slowly to an upright position and scooped her into his arms bridal style to carry her up the stairs to bed without waking her. He stood with her cradled in his embrace and rolled his eyes when he noticed some of her make up on his t-shirt next to a wet patch where Lily had clearly dribbled on him.

"Awesome."

_Or berate yourself either _

The last thought that flashed, clear and irritating and angry, through his mind as the last few syllables rolled from the Voldemort's mouth was that Peter betrayed them and that he, as a father, as a husband, as a friend, had failed.

_Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. _

"My Lord, both the Potter child and the Longbottom boy fit the description of the Prophecy."

"It is the Potter boy. The son of a mudblood and a blood traitor. He has been marked as my equal in blood. He is the one."

~*~


	17. Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Body

_Enjoy your body; use it every way you can._

_Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own._

James Potter liked to ponder. He was unashamed to admit to being a ponderer and so, it was with little surprise, that he found himself pondering, as a ponderer would, about the benefits of married life.

And there were definite benefits to being a Mister rather than a Master.

This thought process may or may not have had everything to do with the fact that his utterly, insanely gorgeous wife enjoyed drip drying from the shower and deigned it appropriate to walk around the house naked whenever she could. It was not the simple pleasure of ogling that he enjoyed so much, although it was a lovely bonus, but rather the pure contentedness with which his wife wandered about. Completely carefree, no body hang ups, no self-consciousness, no need to scurry away from his appreciative gaze. The first time she had done it had been nothing short of shocking. He had been dressing in their bedroom when she had finished her shower, padded into their room and unceremoniously dropped her towel to the floor. He was sure he had dislocated his jaw. She had brushed her hair calmly and caught his eyes in the mirror. With a smug smirk that he would keep locked in his memory forever, she had tutted.

"James, you're gawking, dear."

Well how could he not? She was all lovely, pink, clean curves and was that lavender he could smell? Heavenly. Coherent thought had been near impossible and he had stared at her with confusion, lust, surprise and affection wrestling for dominance in his stomach.

But, damn, his wife was sexy.


	18. Dance Like Nobody's Watching

_Dance._

When James Potter arrived home from the Ministry of Magic, it was with slight amazement that he watched his new wife saunter past him in the tiniest black dress he had ever seen and in heels that could be used as a murder weapon.

"Lily? What are you doing?"

She turned and regarded him coolly.

"I'm going out."

"Do you really think that's a good idea, love?" James shrugged out of his heavy robe and eyed her cautiously.

"It's Alice's birthday and the girls are going dancing. I'm not going to be the one to miss it."

"Yes, but Lily I don't think-"

"No. I'm going."

James raised an eyebrow and watched as she sniffled and reached for a tissue to blow her stuffy nose. She grabbed her bag and swayed slightly so James lunged forward to catch her before she fell onto the coffee table. She looked at him sheepishly.

"Clumsy me?"

"No, Lily, you're-"

"Don't say it!" She begged him, as he righted her and sat her on the sofa. He sighed and rolled his eyes in a gesture he was very familiar with having been on the receiving end more than a few times.

"Lily you are sick." He talked over her outraged squeak. "There is nothing to be ashamed about in getting a cold but I don't think going out tonight is the best idea. Alice will understand." He said soothingly as she relaxed in his arms on the sofa.

"Just so you know; I'm not sick." James rolled his eyes again and she continued. "I'm not! I don't get sick. I'm just tired." She yawned and caught his pointed look. "Okay, okay I'm exhausted and I have this headache and I do feel a bit queasy and my throat hurts and I've got a blocked nose but really, I'm fine."

James laughed and tapped her on the nose.

"You, Lily Potter, are too damn stubborn for your own good."

"Eh, but you love me for it, right?" Lily fluttered her eyelashes at him and then groaned as this did nothing to help her headache. James stroked her hair gently and felt her shiver ever so slightly.

"Why don't you go and get in your pyjamas? Not that I'm complaining about the current outfit choice." James said with a smirk as he took in her long, exposed legs and managed a sneaky glance down the front of her dress. It was her turn to roll her eyes and he grinned at her. "Go on; I'll make some hot chocolate for you."

He untangled his limbs from hers and ambled into the kitchen where he made hot chocolate the muggle way because Lily always said she liked the taste better and she normally gave him a kiss for making the effort. Leaving the milk in the saucepan to heat up, James poked his head into the living room intending to usher his wife up the stairs considering he hadn't heard her move. However, she was sat happily in her pyjama bottoms, her dress and shoes discarded under the coffee table, as she buttoned up her pyjama top. It was his favourite pair; the blue silky ones with ducks all over them. He smiled and ducked back into the kitchen only to return several minutes later with a freshly made hot chocolate. She accepted it from him with something resembling a smile.

"Thanks, James." She sighed quietly but he managed to pick up on it and resumed stroking her hair.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing." She looked at him with those amazingly green eyes that still took his breath away and he knew she wanted to say more. He stayed silent as she tried to figure out the right wording in her mind. "It's just...with the war and everything, there aren't many chances to just be our age and have fun, you know?" He did. "I just feel that tonight might have been one of my last chances to let loose and just dance." She shrugged with a wistful sigh and leant further into the warmth of the space between his shoulder and neck. She was startled when he suddenly jumped up from the sofa and marched towards the television.

"James?"

He fiddled about with the record player atop the TV and before she could ask him what was going on, the soothing melody of 'The Way You Look Tonight' was floating through the living room. She managed to crack a smile and she put her hot chocolate on the table in front of her when he offered her his hand. She accepted it gratefully and he pulled her against his chest as his arms settled gently on her waist. Her arms wound around his neck and she smiled up at him.

"You are so cheesy."

"Eh, but you love me for it, right?" He asked with a lovesick grin.

The record played on and they revolved slowly on the spot, James' fingers rubbing the silky material of Lily's pyjamas on her back and Lily realised, as she felt her heart swell, that she'd rather be there than anywhere else and that, just maybe, having a cold wasn't such a bad thing after all.

_Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room._


	19. Always Have A Starting Point

_Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. _

There was a great deal of yelping and cursing coming from the back of the classroom which Lily tried to ignore.

Her eyes skimmed across the chalk board at the front of the classroom and she tried desperately to concentrate. This was not made any easier by the loud grunt that came from somewhere behind her. Lily flicked her wrist harder and gritted her teeth. This was going to be a long hour from the sounds of things.

"Merlin's great hairy armpits! What the hell have I done!?"

Her patience abruptly evaporated on the spot and she whipped around to face the source of her irritations.

"Could you keep the bloody noise down, Potter? Some of us are trying to-to.." Her nose wrinkled and she recoiled somewhat as she noticed the mauve fumes rising from his cauldron. "My God, what _is _that?" A sickly sweet smell, almost like lavender but far too sugary, reached her nose and she tried not to gag. She could almost taste it in the back of her mouth and she fought the urge to scrape her tongue with her fingernails.

"Oh, hello, Evans." He mock saluted her with his ladle and managed to flick a violent green, horrifically lumpy spoonful of liquid towards her. She side stepped the danger with an equally dangerous raised eyebrow. To his credit, he looked incredibly sheepish and his cheeks coloured somewhat in embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" Lily repeated, flicking her wrist again and stirring her own light blue potion with precise accuracy.

"Making my potion. What does it look like?" James asked with a pointed gesture at his bubbling cauldron.

"It looks like a mess." Lily said honestly as she watched the mauve fumes turn fuchsia. Alarm crossed her face briefly until James absently threw in a pickled toad and the fumes morphed back to a strange purple colour. Lily watched with growing horror on her face as James let another whole pickled toad plop into the mix. Her eyes flashed towards the board and she scanned the ingredients list for anything remotely resembling pickled toad. "Potter, what are you doing? You've just put two toads in there and you don't need any!" Her wrist flicked again, the ladle stirring once more in a clockwise direction.

James snorted and threw in another toad simply for effect.

"Loosen up, Evans. Potion directions are more like _guidelines _than anything...what are you doing?" He frowned as he watched her with worry, for she was crawling under her desk with a fearful look on her face. James bent over his work bench to watch her with amusement. "What are you-" but the question was left forever unfinished as his potion exploded with an awful squelching noise that made the entire class turn to the back of the room. Standing there, covered in what looked and smelt like toad intestines, James glared back at his sniggering peers.

"What? Oh, like your potions have never exploded."

Slughorn, to his credit, looked more amused than angry and, as he marched to the back of the room he clapped James on a slime free patch of his back.

"Oh ho, James, my boy, what's happened here then? Not reading the directions again, eh? Get yourself cleaned up and start over. Perhaps Miss Evans could give you a hand?" Slughorn looked imploringly at the redhead as she crawled out from under her desk, slime free. She looked at him helplessly.

"Sir, I think Potter may be beyond help."

The potions master looked, if anything, even more delighted at her response and laughed, patting his rotund belly.

"Wonderful, wonderful! I shall leave him in your more than capable hands, Miss Evans." And then, completely ignoring the aghast expression on the girl's face, he wandered back to the front of the classroom, muttering about a waste of Slytherin traits. Lily sighed, rubbing her temples as she watched James 'scourgify' himself.

"Right, Potter. Just do the first four steps; they are simple enough and you shouldn't _explode_ anything." She turned back to her own potion, watching it bubble gently until she heard a cough behind her that sounded suspiciously like _'Evans'. _She pointedly ignored it. There was another cough and Lily drew a long, calming breath.

"Oi, Evans. You deaf or what?" James poked her in the back with his wand for added effect.

She whipped around so fast that she thought she heard her neck click.

"What?" She hissed, her voice laced with venom.

"Er...do you have the instructions written down? Slughorn's cleared the board."

Lily eyed him with shock and suspicion.

"Do you even know what potion we're meant to be brewing?" At his condemning silence, Lily rolled her eyes. "You didn't read the directions at all?" She stared at him, flabbergasted. "You are such an idiot; no wonder your potion exploded! You know the directions are there for a reason, Slughorn doesn't just like his own hand writing. Honestly, how do you expect to get anywhere in Potions if you have such blatant disregard for the techniques and the rules-"

"Err, Evans?"

"I'm not finished! You need to get your head out of your arse and actually pay attention to something other than yourself. You do realise you need this subject if you want to be an Auror, right?"

"Yes, yes head out of arse but Evans-"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! I'm trying to help you and you're just making it into a joke. Do you actually take anything seriously? I mean, really." He had started pointed behind her and she gritted her teeth. "What is it, Potter?"

"Your potion is smoking."

"What?" Lily turned back to her bench and eyed the mauve smoke with trepidation. Talking to the absolute prat behind her, she had forgotten to stir the potion clockwise again and now it was rapidly taking on a similar appearance to James' unfortunate concoction. Thinking on her feet, Lily rather hastily threw a pickled toad into the mixture and stirred it three times counter clockwise.

"Hey! I thought you said there were no pickled toads in this potion!" James' indignant cry was drowned out by Peter Pettigrew's squeal as someone dropped a pair of scales on his feet. Lily rolled her eyes, smiling as the potion turned back to a light blue colour.

"Look, Potter, you need to read the directions but you don't necessarily have to follow all of them. It's common sense and the instructions are a good place to start with a potion." She turned to face him, a sly smirk on her face as she regarded him from underneath her lashes, and, to his utter astonishment, actually winked.

"Besides, they're really only guidelines anyway."

~*~


	20. Don't Fall Victim To Sibling Rivalry

_Author's Note: I know it has been a long time since I last updated – my apologies. And I am also aware that this is not the next line of the song but this is what I was inspired to write so I figured I'd post it before I was lynched for abandonment._

_Be nice to your siblings; _

"Remind me why we're doing this?"

"James," Lily paused, stopped brushing her hair and straightened his tie. He had always had a bit of a problem with muggle clothes. "She's my sister."

"Yes, I am well aware of that, dear. But why do we have to invite her to the wedding when she hasn't spoken to you in what? Over a year?" James tugged at the collar of his shirt and felt distinctly uncomfortable. He didn't understand Lily's want to invite her, let alone go round there in person. Couldn't they just post the invite like they had for everyone else? He found his fiancée's eyes in the mirror of the vanity table she was sitting at and watched her internal struggle for nearly a full minute in silence.

"Because...because it's what my Mum would have wanted." James was startled to find tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and took two steps towards her, bridging the gap between them as he wrapped his arms round her waist. "She always hoped we'd patch things up. And, she's my _sister, _James." She sighed shakily. "I always thought we'd get over this, you know? It would mean the world to me if she came to our wedding." She rolled her eyes and laughed in spite of herself. "I know she probably won't but I have to at least try. She's the only family I have left." She looked up at him and he had to catch his breath; the desire to kiss her was overwhelming with her eyes wide, bright and shiny with a film of tears threatening to fall. He gave her a chaste peck on the lips and ruffled her hair just the way he liked it.

"Okay then, if it's what you want." And he said no more about it. James was less than impressed when, after a brief chat at the Dursley's home, the RSVP came back as a rather blunt 'not attending' along with a door slammed in their faces.

He never forgave Petunia for breaking Lily's heart.

James did, however, give Petunia a kiss on the cheek when he saw her lurking near the doorway of the church in a ridiculously large hat (and husbandless) after his and Lily's wedding ceremony. When he asked her what had changed her mind she had shrugged and replied as though it were obvious.

"She's my sister."

_They are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. _

_~*~_


	21. Sometimes Forgive But Never Forget

_Understand that friends come and go, _

"Lily! Lily hang on, please-"

"I have nothing to say to you. Do you hear me? _Nothing._" The redhead courageously held back her tears as she looked her former best friend dead in the eye.

"Then I'll do the talking. Look, I'm sorry. Honestly! I swear I'm not like the rest of those Slytherins. You're my best friend, Lily. Please, _please _just forgive me. I'm stupid and an idiot and you know what I get like around Potter; it just slipped out accidentally. He winds me up so much, you know that. You know _me._"

Her mirthless laughter shocked him more than her hissed reply.

"I don't know who the hell you are. Funny thing is, Sev? I never really did."

Severus watched, helpless to do anything but gape as the one person who had been the reason for his existence for so long, walked away from him.

He was not courageous. And he did not hold back his tears.

_But for the precious few you should hold on._

The first time James Potter broke Sirius Black's jaw was a quidditch practice related accident.

The second time James Potter broke Sirius Black's jaw was because James' fist collided with Sirius' face in a punch that screamed of anger and betrayal and incredulity.

"That's for being an idiot and screwing over one of your best friends. I'm going to see Moony in the hospital wing now because if I stay here looking at you I might have to break something else to match your jaw."

James, Remus and Peter gave Sirius the silent treatment for almost a whole fortnight after his stunt with the Whomping Willow and Snape. It was only after Sirius had apologised to Remus for being a 'troll-headed ninny muggins' (or words to that effect) and had also apologised to Snape (without once calling him Snivelly) that the Marauders were reunited. It was simple, brief and it happened at a normal dinner like any other.

"Oi, Padfoot, pass the mash."

And that was that.

_Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. _


	22. Expand Your Horizons

_AN: I haven't given up on this story. I promise. Sorry about the delay and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it a bit!_

_Travel. _

Emmeline Vance and Lily Evans had been forced to go camping.

Lily's parents had had enough of the two teenagers lounging around the house complaining of the unseasonably hot British weather and had suggested (or rather _demanded_) a camping trip to the New Forest. In the Evans' defence, the girls had not required much persuasion as the idea had appealed immensely; a chance to get away from Petunia and her new boyfriend, get away from Lily's mother who enforced hourly applications of sun tan lotion and to possibly meet some people their own age in order to waste a few days. They had invited Alice Prewett but she had been busy trying to woo Frank Longbottom with trips to the beach in tempting swim wear.

So the two sixteen year olds had ventured off to the New Forest and had found a quaint muggle campsite where they could wile away a week.

"Do you reckon Alice has managed to persuade Frank to go skinny dipping yet?"

The question was so unexpected that Lily ended up spitting out the mouthful of elderflower cordial that she had gulped just mere seconds ago.

"What? That's an entirely inappropriate topic for young ladies, such as ourselves, to be discussing." Lily replied with a raised eyebrow and a smile that could only be described as a smirk.

"I'm just saying...sex on the beach isn't just a cocktail, Lily."

This, of course, sent the two girls into fits of giggles which were only interrupted by the sound of grunting. Glancing sideways at Emmeline, Lily nodded towards the bushes from where the noise seemed to be generating. In an unspoken agreement, the two girls slid from their chairs and crept towards the bush that divided their pitch from what sounded like a rather frustrated troll. Stifling more giggles, Lily peered through the foliage to witness someone wrestling with a tent and losing. The stranger's whole body was covered by the canvas which appeared to be draped on their head whilst they struggled with the complex system of poles and pegs which would give support to the entire structure.

With the amusement of a spectator, Lily bit her lip and tried to quell the bubble of laughter lodged in her throat as vague threats and curses could be heard. After watching the hapless struggle for a few minutes, the red head finally took some pity on the poor camper and stood upright. Emmeline hissed and tried to tug her back into the shrubbery but it was too late as Lily cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, do you need any help?"

The struggle from within the tent ceased the instant her concern was voiced and Lily looked at Emmeline with a comical expression of confusion which set the blonde off again. Her laughter died into a choke as her eyes widened in an expression of disbelief and horror. Lily looked up, wondering what had caused such a reaction in her friend.

There, standing with a tent around his shoulders like a cloak and holding what looked suspiciously like a set of instructions, stood James Potter.

Glasses and all.

Lily felt her jaw drop.

James looked embarrassed.

"Er...alright, Evans? A hand would be good if the offer still stands." He shrugged the tent from around his shoulders and ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"What...what are you doing here?" Lily demanded, shock colouring her tone.

"...struggling?" James looked awkwardly between the two female teenagers and attempted a smile that more closely resembled a grimace.

She balked at his completely nonchalant reaction. Lily's eyes narrowed as she realised, with sudden clarity that was not entirely uncharacteristic for her, that James was not surprised to see her. He was not stunned at the mere coincidence that they were both at the same campsite, at the same time, on adjacent pitches.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she noted the tips of his ears turning pink.

"How did you know we were here, Potter?" She made a mental leap and hoped she sounded thoroughly disgusted. "Have you been reading my owl post again?"

Her temper was quickly rearing its ugly head and James seemed to register the warning signs as he quickly rebuffed her stalker-ish notions.

"Now, now, Evans. It's not all about you, you know." His typical Potter smirk was plastered across his face as he took in Lily's rapidly flushing cheeks. "Besides, the Ministry threatened to suspend me from Hogwarts if I kept interfering with your post." His outward bravado had slipped somewhat during his confession.

Lily's temper was slowly rising but James was saved an untimely end by the appearance of Sirius Black. The dark haired boy came hurtling towards James, panting and puffing, clearly overlooking the presence of Lily still half hidden in the shrubbery.

"Prongs! Prongs I can't find the girls anywhere. Are you sure this is the right camp site? I will be royally pis-ow!" Sirius yelped as James, rather hastily, stamped on his foot to shut him up. "What was that for?" Sirius followed James' sharp nod and finally acknowledged Lily and Emmeline. "Oh."

There was a pause of awkward silence.

"Fancy seeing you two here! What a coincidence indeed. It's as if the stars had pre-determined it themselves. If this isn't just the greatest example of destiny I don't kno-"

"Shut _up_, Padfoot!" James glared at his friend and his over theatrical antics. "I _knew _I should have brought Moony."

"You wound me, Prongs." Sirius gasped dramatically.

The banter continued until Lily Evans snapped.

"Enough!" Both boys turned to look at her with alarm colouring their expressions. "I'm only going to ask this once; how did you know we were here?"

"Oh we just...heard on the grape vine that you might be holidaying in these parts." James looked sufficiently awkward and Lily knew he was being purposefully vague.

"Thought we'd come and spice things up a bit for you." Sirius added, winking at Emmeline who was untangling bracken from her hair. "Little, blonde sources were very insistent that we came to keep you ladies company."

James stamped on Sirius' foot again and shut his eyes with exasperation as the cogs turned in Lily's head.

"Little. Blonde. Sources?" The redhead ground out, her eyes practically glowing. "I'm going to kill Alice."

James and Sirius winced at the same time with almost identical expressions of guilt on their faces at being caught out. Lily wasn't considered the brightest witch of her year for nothing.

"Well...now that we're all here, what do you two say to a little exploring?" Sirius broke the uneasy silence with a nod of his head towards the trees lining the edge of the campsite.

"Sure!" Emmeline agreed before Lily could open her mouth to protest. When the redhead turned to look at her taller friend she noticed, almost instantly, the tell-tale blush creeping across her high cheekbones and the coy smile dancing around her lips.

"Traitor." Lily hissed at her friend. Emmeline rolled her eyes and gave an apologetic shrug but moved closer to Sirius nonetheless. The two began walking towards the line of trees chatting about summer and about how excited they were for their next year at Hogwarts.

"Come on, Evans; an hour in my company won't kill you." James gave her a tight lipped grin and turned to follow in the path of his fellow Gryffindors. Lily sighed.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." She muttered as she jogged to catch up to her three classmates. They reached the edge of the campsite rather quickly and found, to Sirius' delight and Emmeline's dismay, a shoulder high fence with a crude sign reading 'KEEP OUT' in bold, black lettering. The girls stopped in their tracks assuming that their adventure had reached a rather anti-climactic conclusion.

Sirius wasn't going to let a fence stop him from exploring in the woods.

Both boys went right up to the fence and Sirius tested the strength of the wooden posts with a sturdy kick. The whole structure swayed rather ominously which brought a grin to the black haired youth's lips.

"Over here, Em. I'll give you a boost." He crouched and locked his hands together so that she could use him as a climbing frame. Far from looking aghast, Lily was horrified to note the excitement on her friend's face as she used Sirius' shoulders to hoist herself up.

"Guys, it says 'keep out'. I really don't think we should go in there. What if we get caught?" Lily bit her lip as she watched Emmeline scramble over the twisted fencing.

"Oh, come on, Evans!" Sirius rolled his eyes at her as he hopped the fence rather athletically, much to the consternation of Emmeline. "Where's your sense of adventure? Fun? Where's that Gryffindor courage?" He taunted her from beyond the barrier of the fence. Lily bristled and straightened her shoulder as she all but sneered at him.

"_Some _of us are considered morally upstanding citizens." Emmeline snorted from beside Sirius and further irritated Lily. "_Some _of us are good girls." The red head folded her arms across her chest and stuck her chin out defiantly at the pair beyond the fence. They shrugged and moved towards the line of trees to their left, intent on investigating what was so important that it needed the public to be fenced out. Or what was so dangerous that it needed to be fenced in.

James was leaning against the mangled fence studying her. His eyes were dark and he looked like he was trying to figure out a particularly difficult Rune translation.

"What?" Lily finally snapped with embarrassment for being considered the 'boring' one again and with annoyance at her friend who was very quick to disappear into the woods with Sirius.

"You know what they say about good girls, don't you?" He pushed himself off the fence to stand in front of her, closer than she was entirely comfortable with but far enough away to not be invading her personal space. Lily rolled her eyes at him and pre-empted an insult.

"Let me guess: they're boring? No, no...they always finish last?"

James gave her a strange look and a half smile that did funny things to her stomach.

"No. Good girls go to heaven."

Her eyes narrowed at him and she wondered what he was up to. There was a taunting light in his eyes and she wanted to steal the quirk of his lips but, as usual, she couldn't read him. She turned to go back to her tent, intent on reading a good book and waiting for a call from the police, but was stopped by the sound of his voice.

"But the bad girls? Evans, they go _everywhere._"

There was something about his voice, something about the way his eyes seemed to know the exact rhythm of her frantically beating heart and she found herself turning back around to face him. Slowly, he extended his hand to help her over the fence. With Gryffindor blood singing through her veins and James' smile imprinted in her memory she bit her lip and gingerly placed her hand in his.


	23. Respect Is Something You Earn

_Respect your elders. _

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not your Professor anymore, Lily. You may call me Albus. Everyone else does; even James." He smiled warmly at her now that their brief Order meeting was over (she was always the last to leave), eyes twinkling from behind half-moon glasses.

"I know." She toyed with the edge of her robes as she rose gracefully to her feet. "It just feels wrong – too informal somehow." Really 'Sir' was more of an endearment than a title and she enjoyed the intimacy that came with it. That she was the only one to still address him as such just made it all the more special between them.

"Very well. I shall see you next week. Take care, Lily." He stood to hug her and she sunk into his familiar embrace, even pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Take care, sir."

After she had apparated with a crack, Albus shook his head with a smile.

She was just as he had imagined a granddaughter of his own might be.


	24. Share Your Insecurities

_Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. _

"Lily, there's a letter for you." James handed her the paper envelope as he rounded the corner into their living room. She smiled a thank you and placed it on the coffee table. James frowned. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"Nah. I'll read it later. Probably not important." She waved it off and went back to reading her book.

James, instantly suspiciously at her far too nonchalant tone, plucked the letter up himself and began opening it. _That _got her attention.

"James, don't open that!" She leapt up from the sofa and tried to grab it out of his hands but she had piqued his curiosity and he used his height to his advantage. Holding the envelope above his head he ripped it open, ignoring her flailing limbs, and began to read the crisp print of the letter.

"Dear Mrs Potter, we are pleased to inform you that we would like to offer you the position of part-time waitress-" James stopped reading and looked down to see his wife had stilled against him. "What is this, Lily?" He asked, genuinely bewildered by the letter.

"It's nothing." She sighed and seemed to deflate a little before his eyes. "It's just a little cafe in town and I went down to ask if I could pick up a few hours of waitressing. Not a big deal. At all. So can we just drop it, please?"

James struggled with the concept for a little longer and couldn't hold in his question.

"Why would you go and ask the cafe for work?" He had once sworn that he would never understand women and it seemed that he never would.

"Just to pick up some extra money that's all." Lily's tone was defensive now and she looked like she really did not want the conversation to continue but James' brain couldn't relay that fast enough to his mouth.

"But we don't need extra money; that's the reason we were able to quit the Auror programme and work full-time for the Order. I thought we had talked about this?"

She was almost positive he didn't mean to sound that condescending but it infuriated her nonetheless.

"No, I brought up a part-time job and you dismissed it. We didn't 'talk' about it at all!" The flash of fire in her eyes was all the warning he needed and he instantly regretted bringing the topic up but knew he had to see it through to the end; had to know what she wasn't saying.

"Okay, okay. So let's talk about it now." His voice was calm, reasonable but he could feel his pulse pounding as his neck tensed. "You don't need to get another job because my parents left us their entire vault at Gringotts which could support us for 7 lifetimes. Do you want a job to keep you busy?"

Her emerald eyes turned to him with incredulity.

"'To keep me _busy'_? As if I won't have enough to do with the Order?" The fight seemed to leave her entirely and she slumped onto the sofa. "You don't get it."

"Then explain it to me!" His temper was wearing thin with this argument and he couldn't help the exasperated tone to his voice."Look, you wanted to talk about it so let's talk! Just tell me why you think we need all this 'extra money'!"

"Because I don't want to be left penniless when you leave, alright?"

There was a stunned silence and James blinked at her slowly.

"When I _leave?_"

"_If_ you leave-" Lily noticed his visible wince and tried to rephrase her thought. "I mean-oh I don't know." She sighed and rubbed a hand wearily across her brow. She wasn't entirely sure how they had got to this point from a simple waitressing job but it was typically them. She felt the sofa dip beside her and then she was all but dragged into James' arms.

"Lily, I'm not going anywhere. I would never, _ever, _leave you. You're kind of stuck with me." He pressed a kiss to her hair and simply held her, willing her to believe him.

"I know." Her hands clung to the front of his shirt and she could feel the heavy thump of James' heart beneath her fingertips. "I just..I just plan, you know? I plan excessively."

A chuckle wormed its way through him as he recalled their wedding preparations.

"I know, sweetheart. I know."

They stayed in their embrace for a long time and, the next day, Lily wrote back to the cafe to apologise but she wouldn't be able to take the job because her 'circumstances had changed'.


	25. Don't Play With Your Hair

_Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85._

She watched from across the Common Room in agitation as he did it, _again._

It was infuriating and distracting and she could not take her eyes off of him.

It wasn't really that he was even _doing _anything, she supposed but the _way _he was doing it was so frustrating. He was such a little fidget! If he wasn't chewing on a quill he was tapping his leg, if he wasn't spinning something between his fingers, he was catching that damned snitch. But it seemed as though he could not last more than 20 seconds without running his hands through his hair and making the already messy locks form a stormy, black cloud on the top of his head. Really, it just looked like a bird's nest and was not attractive in the least.

He did it again and Lily huffed.

He was distracting her from her homework and she would not tolerate it any longer. Picking up her book and parchment, Lily crossed the room to head towards the girls' dormitory. Just as she approached Potter's table he leaned back on his chair and smirked at her.

"Alright, Evans? Something _bothering_ you?" James smirked and lazily performed another sweep of his hand through his hair. Her eyes narrowed at him as she realised he had been doing it on purpose.

'_That smarmy, little-'_

"Not at all. You ought to be careful though, Potter. If you keep playing with your hair it will start falling out." He scoffed and turned back to his mates. She left to climb the girls' stairs but paused on the bottom step to whisper a small but efficient slicing charm aimed at just a small clump of hair sitting on the very top of his head. The strands fell limply onto his scalp but remained there. Lily smirked as she continued up towards her room and waited for the inevitable.

Half a minute later there was a very loud, girly screech echoing around the common room and something that sounded suspiciously like 'My hair! My beautiful hair!'

Lily grinned in victory.


	26. You Learn From Experience

_Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. _

"You're sure about this? Lily? James?" Dumbledore asked quietly, his sad eyes peering over the edge of his spectacles.

It struck Lily just how old Dumbledore looked. Old and tired. James took her hand in his and she looked at him with what she hoped was a confident smile but what she knew resembled a watered down version of a grimace.

"Yes, Albus. We want to use the Fidelius Charm with Sirius as our Secret Keeper." James' voice was strong and Lily marvelled at how unwaveringly he could say that sentence. She squeezed his hand and he looked at her gratefully. Harry burbled happily in her lap, unaware of the serious nature of the meeting.

"James, I hesitate to say this." The old Headmaster paused, seeming to think how best to phrase his next sentence. "As much as I respect Mr Black and think he is an excellent friend to you, are you sure he is the best person for this job?" James began to protest but Dumbledore raised his hand. "Please, hear me out. I would like you to consider choosing me to be your Secret-Keeper."

His offer startled them both but Lily was the first to recover.

"Sir, as kind as that offer is, James and I have discussed this matter to the point of insanity and I really think Sirius is the best person for the job. He's practically family and he would never do anything to hurt us and, besides, he has an excellent talent for staying hidden." Lily smiled gently and, when she looked back at James, he was looking at her so softly that it made her heart ache.

"Be that as it may, my offer still stands. Just remember that, sometimes, it is your friends that can let you down most of all because their betrayal is so much worse."

Lily felt goose bumps rise on her arms and sensed a heavy sadness in her old Headmaster, a deep and grave hurt that he was recalling from years gone by that she would never understand.

"Then, I suppose, this is goodbye." The old man rose from his seat and walked around his desk to shake James' hand and to hug Lily. He ghosted his hand over Harry's head and smiled sadly. "Stay safe. All of you."

They left his office and Lily felt tears threaten her eyes as she wondered if she would ever see Albus Dumbledore again.


	27. Listen To Your Mother

_But trust me on the sunscreen…_

It was a sunny day in the middle of July and the entire Potter family were sat in their back garden enjoying a few hours of the heat. James was busy fighting with a particularly stubborn garden gnome and Lily was busy fighting with a particularly stubborn Harry.

"Just – ow – hold still." Lily caught Harry's pudgy little fist in her hand as he reached to tug on her earring again. Whilst he was preoccupied trying to regain control of his right hand, she dived in with her left and managed to smear a healthy handful of sun tan lotion into the skin of his leg.

He blinked at her in surprise.

Lily felt James settle beside her on the raggedy picnic blanket she had spread out on the lawn and she sighed happily. Resting Harry between the two of them, Lily reached for James hand and he twined their fingers together as he smiled at her. His glasses caught a flash of sunshine and she winced after being momentarily blinded.

"So who won? You or the gnome?"

"Me, of course." James preened unnecessarily and Lily laughed, choosing to pointedly ignore the deep scratches in his arms. Harry looked at her at the sound of her chuckle and she used the opportunity to dot his nose with the little remaining sun screen that was on her index finger. Harry wrinkled his nose and went cross eyed as he tried to see what she had done.

"You'll thank me for this one day when you're not a wrinkled old prune." Lily tapped her son's nose again and managed to steal a smile from him.

_&&Fin_


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